Mediterranean Smashed Chickpeas
Updated May 8, 2023
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- Extra-virgin olive oil
- 1medium onion, diced
- Salt and pepper
- 4garlic cloves, minced
- ½teaspoon coarsely ground toasted cumin
- ½teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1cup finely diced celery
- 4cups chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cooked or canned
- 2tablespoons lemon juice
- 4hard-cooked eggs, peeled and quartered (optional)
- Minted yogurt (optional), see notes
- Tahini sauce (optional), see notes
Preparation
- Step 1
Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook gently until softened, about 10 minutes. Raise heat to medium-high. Add garlic, cumin, red pepper flakes and celery. Stir to combine let sizzle without browning for 1 minute.
- Step 2
Add chickpeas and let them heat through. With a potato masher or wooden spoon, crush about half the beans. Stir well, taste and adjust seasoning. Add ½ cup water (or bean cooking liquid if you have it) and let mixture simmer briskly for a minute or two. Stir in lemon juice and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Serve warm in pita or as a dip or side dish. Garnish with quartered eggs, accompanied by minted yogurt and tahini sauce, if desired.
- To make minted yogurt, stir 2 tablespoons chopped mint and 1 minced garlic clove into a cup of thick yogurt. Season with salt and pepper.
- To make tahini sauce, mix ¼ cup Middle Eastern sesame paste with 2 tablespoons lemon juice, 2 minced garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon salt and 3 tablespoons olive oil.
Private Notes
Comments
Spice it up: add cayenne &/or Harissa; more lemon juice, omit celery or serve celery sticks with final product; don't cook garlic, use garlic press; add tahini paste directly to final mixture. If adding cumin &/or coriander, toast seeds & grind before adding. Add some olive oil to yogurt mixture.
Make this more like a warm hummus & above all, keep tasting & adding ingredients until you like the flavor. Serve with your own toasted pita chips, if you like.
I think it has plenty of flavor if served as pictured: sliced avocado and the mint yogurt really compliment the dish. Thanks for a great go to recipe!
The ingredients are bland. I'd add a bit of chili, flakes, sriracha, etc.
Really delicious. Added some parsley and ate with a sweet potato.
. Increase cumin amount Add some chili flakes, cayenne And some ground coriander. (Maybe grind coriander and cumin fresh for this one?)
This was delicious! I didn't have pita or tahini. But I had sourdough bread so we sliced that in thick slabs and toasted it. We poured this over the warm toasted bread for a chickpea "bruschetta". And it really worked well. I was a little "generous" with the garlic and the heat but that worked out nicely. A perfect dish to warm up!